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JAKARTA - President Megawati Sukarnoputri celebrated her 56th birthday Wednesday with a special gift in the form of boisterous expression of support from about 200 party supporters for her to seek re-election next year. The young supporters under the banner "Indonesian Buffalo Youth" (BMI), an activist movement of her Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-Struggle) came in several buses hoping to shake hands with their idol.
However, they were only met by Megawati's husband, Taufik Kiemas and some PDI-Struggle senior leaders at the president's official residence at Teuku Umar Road, at an exclusive residential area of Menteng in the city centre. (Buffalo head is the party symbol which is incorporated in the party's emblems and flags).
The supporters remained in high spirit neverthless with one of them giving a brief oratory on a loudhailer, expressing support for Megawati to seek re-election and vowing to defend her against her opponents and critics. Support for the eldest daughter of Indonesia's founding president, the late Sukarno, was reported to be waning amidst her perceived dismal performance in taking the country out of the current crisis.
She came under heavy criticism from a wide spectrum of Indonesians in the latest controversy over the simultaneous increase in fuel prices and utility rates early this month. Megawati buckled under heavy public pressure of daily street rallies and later backtracked by reducing the hike on some fuel prices and put on hold the tariff increase on telephone service.
She manifested her desire to remain in the top seat by challenging her opponents, whom she had accused of planning anarchy and choas, to face her in the coming elections. The president was also entertained to a a traditional dance performed at the compound of her residence by a group of about 20 youths from Irian Jaya.
Unlike last year, Megawati, who took over from Abdurrahman Wahid in July, 2001, treated her birthday with a difference this time by staying away from office work and dropping a weekly cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday.
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